Tirop wins half Germantown Half Marathon

MTSU assistant shakes off 'stitches'

Runners prepare for the start of the 13th annual Germantown Half Marathon on Sunday. Micah Tirop had the best time among men while Meggan Franks paced the women.

Micah Tirop's stated goal when he entered the 13th annual Germantown Half Marathon was to break the men's course record of 1:06:02.

He didn't quite get there.

But he won the overall men's title with a solid time of 1:08:28 and left with a plaque, the $500 first-place prize money and a smile that would have led you to believe he had broken the record just as he'd planned.

"At the 9-mile mark, I was on pace to break the record," said Tirop, a native Kenyan who works now as a graduate assistant at Middle Tennessee State University. "But I started to feel really uncomfortable at that point."

A half marathon is 13.1 miles and, not surprisingly, the bulk of Tirop's discomfort at the 9-mile mark was in his legs. But he was also having problems with a painful ailment known to runners as "stitches."

Stitches are a sharp, localized twinge of pain just below the rib cage that usually happens on the the right side of the lower abdomen. Runners often have to slow to a walk for the pain to completely subside.

But with Colorado native Nate Pennington nipping at his heels, Tirop couldn't afford to slow down. Pennington finished a close second in 1:08:45.

"The race was absolutely wonderful," Tirop said. "The course is so well-marked, and the crowd is one of the more encouraging crowds I've ever experienced. I'll definitely be back next year for another shot at the record."

In the women's overall division, Starkville, Miss., resident Meggan Franks took first place with a time of 1:23:40.

Franks has been a longtime participant in the Half Marathon, but she missed last year's event because she was pregnant. She was able to return this year, thanks partly to a group known as Brooks Inspire Daily -- a group devoted to fighting obesity across America that provides athletic equipment to certain runners.

"I just had a baby five months ago, and babies are so expensive," Franks said. "I'm not sure I would have been able to run in this race without their help."

Franks was quick to point out that her first-place finish was aided by the absence of Janet Cherobon, an elite runner and a perennial winner in the Germantown Half Marathon.

"She wasn't able to be here this year, and I hope she makes it back next year," Franks said. "It's just good for the sport to have people like her involved in these events."

Without Cherobon to contend with, Franks left with a plaque, a $500 check and her five-month-old baby.

Second place in the women's overall division went to Anke Kullman, a Tuscaloosa, Ala., resident who finished well behind Franks in 1:29:54.

The 26th annual Mayor's Cup 5K was won by Memphians in the men's and women's overall divisions. Naketa Edney claimed the women's title in 22:21, and Bryan Baddorf won the men's division in 16:42.